A conventional armrest assembly 100 as shown in FIG. 1 includes an armrest substrate 110 having a vehicle-inward member 120 and a vehicle-outward member 130. Because it is a requirement that door armrest assemblies 100 collapse horizontally upon receipt of a side impact, a gap 140 is defined between the vehicle-inward member 120 and the vehicle-outward member 130.
However, the armrest assembly must also provide vertical support, i.e. support vertical loads, for functional use. For this reason, additional components are included such as a molded carrier 150 attached to the substrate 110, which may have a fabric layer 160 attached thereto. The molded carrier 150 provides a structural support for supporting vertical loads. The fabric layer 160 is typically attached by stitching, although other methods such as sonic welding, adhesives, etc. are also known. Additional components may include a foam layer 170, and a natural or synthetic material cover 180.
The attachment of the separate molded carrier 150/fabric layer 160 represents significant additional material, tooling, and labor costs for a vehicle manufacturer. To solve this and other problems, the present disclosure relates to an armrest substrate including a displaceable bridge member, allowing the manufacturer to dispense with a separate molded carrier 150 as describe above while still providing a needed function of vertical support for an armrest assembly.